Adherents.com: Religious Groups in Literature

34,420 citations from literature (mostly science fiction and fantasy) referring to real churches, religious groups, tribes, etc. [This database is for literary research only. It is not intended as a source of information about religion.]

"'They passed a tall curly-haired woman, walking with a young collier. A Gypsy woman of the poorest sort, she wore a short shift with neither petticoats nor stockings, nor even shoes; yet when she caught him looking at her bare calves, which he was trying to avoid, she flashed a dazzling smile that revealed surprising beauty. "

"The poorer folk, these, mostly those unwilling to put down a shilling fee for admission to the stands, mixed with those who entertained or preyed upon the crowd: thimble-riggers, gypsies, pick-pockets. "

[Afterward, by Stanley Edgar Hyman.] Pg. 182: "Perhaps the most fascinating thing about the book is its language. Alex thinks an talks in the 'nadsat' (teenage) vocabulary of the future. A doctor in the book explains it. 'Odd bits of old rhyming slang,' he says. 'A bit of gypsy talk, too. but most of the roots are Slav. Propaganda. Subliminal penetration.' "; Pg. 183: "The 'gypsy talk,' I would guess, includes Alex's phrase 'O my brothers,' and 'crark' (to yowl?), 'cutter' (money), 'filly' (to fool with), and such. "

"Alex pays the bill and rides a gypsy cab driven by a young Armenian who has to be given instructions to find the way back to Alex's crib. "

Roma

USA

1981

Crowley, John. Little, Big. New York: Bantam (1981); pg. 8.

"...he read of a huge family with wild Greek-sounding names who lived in several buildings on a noisome block he had walked once, a family that grew and discarded members every time he passed them in the alphabet--Gypsies, he decided at last... "

"In the Depression... when the truth about the death camps came out. They weren't Jew but they might have been gypsies or Poles or who knows what. None of us really understood what had happened over there, only that a lot of innocent people had been hunted down and killed. "

"It seemed an old, gypsylike way of life to me, since my own was burdened so little by transition. But I was fascinated by her flippant, agreeable approach to change. Pop liked her, too. She came often to the farmhouse in the evening, and we did our homework together... "

"When Zo first moved into Zinnie's house four months ago, he wasn't sure how long it would last: a Mormon gypsy living with his pioneer grandmother. " [ "Gypsy " is apparently used here in reference to Zo's non-settled down state; he is not an actual ethnic Roma gypsy.]

Roma

Washington

1905

Gloss, Molly. Wild Life. New York: Simon & Schuster (2000); pg. 52.

"'You speak like this is Tragic Opera and you are a Gypsy soothsayer,' I told her flatly. "

Roma

Washington, D.C.

1993

Sawyer, Robert J. Frameshift. New York: Tor (1998; c. 1997); pg. 49.

[Watching a video of the movie Judgment at Nuremberg] "The case against Janning hinged on the matter of Feldenstein, a Jew he'd ordered executed on trumped-up indecency charges, Janning demanded the right to speak, over the objection of his own lawyer. When he took the stand, Avi felt his stomach knotting. Janning told of the lies Hitler had sold German society: ' 'There are devils among us: Communists, liberals, Jews, Gypsies. Once these devils will be destroyed, your misery will be destroyed.' ' Janning shook his head slightly. 'it was the old, old story of the sacrificial lamb.' "

Pg. 78: "'I think it's a good idea, yes. There have been a few Gypsy attacks on the road to Susantown within the last few months.' "; Pg. 89: "'There really have been some Gypsy-bandit attacks up this way, and I don't want to attract their attention with a blaze.'

'What do they want?'

Margo paused before answering... 'Oh, the usual thing seems to be a little rape and abuse, steal the wagons and the animals, take any food, sometimes kill whoever's along.'

'Where do they come from?'

'Garrisons, mostly. Men who won't return to Women's Country because it's considered dishonorable but who can't stand the discipline of the garrisons either... They link up with one another, maybe with some Gypsy women, and create a gang.' " [Other refs., not in DB., pg. 90, 99, 123, 159, 188.]

Pg. 5: "Fikee slowly picked his way along the darkening riverbank toward Doctor Romany's tent. Except for the hoarse sighing of the breeze the evening was oddly silent. The gypsies seemed to realize that something momentous was in the wind tonight... " [Many other refs., not in DB.]

"Whereupon, Masaryk balked too. The Czech was already known to be a long-distance runner with that odd breed's stubborn traits. The mild disarming voice and those chiseled gypsyish features masked a will of carbide resolve... "

"'...But let me explain. We are not bad folk, we are Gypsies, and we follow the Gypsy way. We are always kind to our children, including those we adopt; not one of them would trade our way for that of the settled kind... We are free folk, as free as any on earth. We sing and dance the day long and we are happy in what we do...' " [This entire book is about Gypsies, and includes extensive amounts of sociological, geographical, and historical information. Most references, of course, have not been added to database.]

"But who would be out in these woods playing a calliope? It had to be a gypsy caravan. It was autumn after all, and the gypsy squirrel families always held their Autumn Festival in Ree's Meadow just about a month after the equinox. This had to be some northern gypsy squirrels on their way down to the Festival.

Crow winged over Valder's Clearing, and there, set out in a crescent beside the little spring, were the wagons of a gypsy caravan. " [Many other refs. throughout story, not in DB.]

Roma

world

1996

Fry, Stephen. Making History. New York: Random House (1996); pg. 27.

Pg. 27: "I clumsily collected together Cabaret, Gypsy, Carousel, Sweeney Todd and the rest... "; Pg. 43: "She's taller than me: that doesn't mean much, most people are taller than me. She's dark where I'm light. A lot of people take her for an Italian or a Spaniard. I call her my raven-haired Gypsy temptress, at which she groans good naturedly. "

Roma

world

1996

Fry, Stephen. Making History. New York: Random House (1996); pg. 67.

"'...You know in the camps there was a purple triangle too.''Really? Who for?''Take a guess.'...'That wasn't the Gypsies?''No.''Er . . . criminals then?''No.' "

"...because Roma--like her father, Merlyn, before her... " [Many refs. in novel to the character Roma, who has nothing to do with Roma/gypsies, except her name. Of course, Magneto, a significant character in the novel, is Roma/gypsy, but little is made of his background.]

"The driver must have had his proximity overrides pulled, a highly illegal act not uncommon among gypsy truckers. "

Roma

world

2040

Bova, Ben. Moonrise. New York: Avon Books (1996); pg. 167.

"'You're the first one I have told,' Anson said. 'It's time for me to settle down. No more gypsying. He's a university professor with two daughters from his first marriage. Very stable guy.' "

Roma

world

2049

Knight, Damon. A For Anything. New York: Tor (1990; 1959); pg. 111.

"The crowd flowed along, brilliant, glittering, with a cloud of scent and a murmur of laughter. Here were half a dozen East Indians in turbans...; here came a priest of Eblis and a gypsy mountbank, disputing, arm in arm... "

[Year estimated.] "'Only me,' the face said, but it was pulling in on itself, the hair calming in its swirl, the beard fading, the lines vanishing, nose shrinking, eyes growing larger. the hair turned brown, light brown, held by an enameled band, blowing in the breeze; the eyes were brown, too, but the face was young, and very, very feminine, with high cheekbones and a wide mouth with full, red lips that moved and said, 'It is only Medallia, only a Gypsy woman going in advance of her tribe.' " [Many other refs. to the character Medallia, not in DB.]

[Year estimated.] "Gianni frowned, turning his head very carefully, to see what Gar saw... He saw only what he had expected--a yellow Gypsy caravan, a high-wheeled wagon with a pair of donkeys to pull it, curve-roofed and with two windows on each side, a high chimney rising from the back with wires to hold it against swaying on bumpy roads. It was unusual for a Gypsy woman to travel alone, but surely the caravan wasn't surprising. Why did Gar stare so? 'Have you never seen a Gypsy's home?' he asked.

"Framed pictures hung on the walls--a scene of a city, a picture of a cottage in a wood, and a tableau of an old peasant couple sitting by their hearth. Could it be, Gianni wondered, that this young Gypsy woman wanted to live in a house as badly as most other young folk wanted to wander? "

Gianni looked up in surprise. 'How do Gypsies look? Surely she wears a kerchief and bright clothing, like any Gypsy woman I have ever seen--yes, and with brass earrings, too!'

Gar just gazed at him a moment, then said, 'Well, if clothes are all it takes to make a Gypsy, then she must look like on indeed.'

'Why--what do you think Gypsies look like?'

'Those of my homeland generally have dark complexions and black hair--and large noses.'

Gianni shook his head. 'I have never seen a Gypsy who looked like that.' " [Much more. Gypsies are the primary real-world cultural group highlighted in novel, although the novel features a highly fictionalized type of Gypsy. They are referred to throughout the novel.]

"Madame did her utmost to accommodate the impedimenta, given the physical restrictions of the gazebo's volume, which was roughly six cubic meters. She urged the travelers to consider pooling their resources, and sometimes this was done (The Gypsies, the Amish, the Russian Old Believers, and the Inuit were particularly shrewd in such matters.) "

Pg. 139: "Other time-travelers were reacting to their imprisonment according to their individual psychology... Five Gypsy men argued conspiratorially and practiced close-combat lunged with invisible knives. "; Pg. 144: "As he sloshed back between the bunks, one of the Gypsies eyed him. " [Also pg. 220-221, 227, 256.]

Roma

world

5298

Card, Orson Scott. Xenocide. New York: Tor (1991); pg. 206.

"'Most communities attempting to survive under irresistible pressure from a dominant culture develop a myth that allows them to believe they are somehow a special people. Chosen. Favored by the gods. Gypsies. Jews--plenty of historical precedents.' " [The year given here refers to the time these characters are living in, not the historical times they are referring to.]

"The great mystery of Eleusis, of the Orphics, of the early Christians, of Sarapis, of the Greco-Roman mystery religions, of Hermes Trismegistos, of the Renaissance Hermetic alchemists, of the Rose Cross Brotherhood, of Apollonius of Tyana, of Simon Magus, of Asklepios, of Paracelsus, of Bruno... " [Rosicrucian = Rose Cross Brotherhood] [Also pg. 217-218]

"Alongside were racks of books full of New Age advice on the mystical properties of rocks and about reincarnation and out-of-body travel. There was some Rosicrucian flapdoodle on a throwaway pamphlet and a calendar of local events starring self-made mystics and seers and advice-givers of nearly every stripe.

Howard put the folded dollar back into the drawer and picked up the Rosicrucian ad. On it was a drawing of Benjamin Franklin seeming to be impersonating Mr. Potatohead. The legend read, 'Why was this man great?' Howard grinned, thinking up a couple of possible reasons.

...'...What was it last year, Cuisinarts and biofeedback? Or was that the seventies? I thought the Rosicrucians went out with Fate magazine.' " [More, pg. 87.]

''It is,' the woman said. 'But we get a call around here for santeria and vodoun goods, herbs, that sort of thing. We cater to oriental mystery patrons, Urantia, Rosicrucian, Rites of Hubbard Schismatics, Sisters of Islam Fatima. You name it, we can get it.' "

Rosicrucian

Mars

2059

Robinson, Kim Stanley. Red Mars. New York: Bantam (1993); pg. 416.

"'Hell, every other article you read is about the Mars underground, and how they're communists or nudists or Rosicrucians--'

'Utopias or caravans or cave-dwelling primitives--' "

Rosicrucian

Pennsylvania

1970

Panshin, Alexei. "How Can We Sink When We Can Fly? " in Farewell To Yesterday's Tomorrow. New York: Berkley Publishing Corp. (1975; c. 1971); pg. 129.

"I stopped the car, pulling it off to the side of the road. On that side were woods. On the other were fountains, fieldstone walkways, planting, dogwoods, and two scaled-down pyramids, one six feet tall, the other twenty.

'What's this place?' Juanito asked.

'It's the Rosicrucian Meditation Garden,' I said, and got out of the car.

The signs say it is open from eight-thirty every morning. I've never seen anyone else walking there, but no one has ever come out to ask me to prove that I was meditating.

After I walked around for a time and looked at the tadpoles swimming in the pool around the smaller pyramid--just like the Great Pyramid of Egypt--I got a grip on myself. Thank the Rosicrucians.

"'...I must acquaint you in more detail with our religious situation here... We are a colony of schisms, of splinter sects. Many of us were aware of the special effects of Planet Tarot before we emigrated from Earth, and each of us saw in these effects the potential realization of God--our particular specialized concepts of God, if you will. This appeal seems to have been strongest to the weakest sects, or in any rate, the smallest numerically. Thus we have few Roman Catholics, Mohammedans, Buddhists, or Confucians, but many Rosicrucians, Spiritualists, Moonies, Gnostics, Flaming Sworders--' "

Rosicrucian

USA

1981

Crowley, John. Little, Big. New York: Bantam (1981); pg. 248.

Pg. 248: "One a page where Bruno treats of the various orders of symbols one might use for various purposes, the commentator had noted: 'As in ye cartes of ye returne of R.C. are iiiij Personnes...' Now this 'R.C.' could stand for 'Roman Church', or--just possibly--'Rosicrucian.' "; Pg. 249: "And 'the return of R. C.': if that meant the 'Brother R. C.' of the Rosicrucians, it would place the cards in the first flush of Rosicrucian enthusiasms; which--she pushed away the tray of tea and toast, and wiped her fingers--might make some sense of the small worlds, too. The arcane thought of those years knew o many.

The athenor of the alchemists, for instance, the Philosopher's Egg within which the transformations from base to gold took place... "

Rosicrucian

USA

1981

Crowley, John. Little, Big. New York: Bantam (1981); pg. 250.

"Eigenblick was no Roman Catholic, and Rosicrucians, as everybody knows, were invisible--and whatever else Russell Eigenblick was, he was very visible. "

Rosicrucian

USA

1986

Grimwood, Ken. Replay. New York: Arbor House (1986); pg. 200.

"In the past four months, they'd received hundreds of replies to the ad, most of which assumed it was a contest or a sales pitch for anything from magazine subscriptions to the Rosicrucians. "

"So it is not surprising that the Tarot has been the subject of exploration by some 'secret societies.' The most significant of these was conducted by the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, founded in 1887 as an offshoot of the English Rosicrucian ('Rosey Cross') Society, itself created twenty years before as a kind of spinoff from Freemasonry... "

"'They dominate the motion-picture industry too. They took a hand in the making of hundreds of movies, the best known of which are Gunga Din and Citizen Kane. These two movies are especially full of Illuminati references, symbols, code messages, and subliminal propaganda. 'Rosebud,' for instance, is their code name for the oldest Iluminati symbol, the so-called Rosy Cross...' " [Other refs., not in DB.]

Pg. 164: "'...By the false Illuminati, and by all the other White Brotherhoods and Rosicrucians and Freemasons and whatnot who didn't really understand the truth...' "; Pg. 205: "...taught by all the mystics of the East and West--Buddhists, Taoists, Vedantists, Rosicrucians, etc. "

"There are, of course, still these scientists today... who reject the terrific underlying implications of the Carrie White affair. Like the Flatlands Society, the Rosicrucians, or the Corlies of Arizona... "

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